The continued detention of Chinese women’s rights activists

Samantha Power on the continued detention of Chinese women’s rights activists

Samantha Power
U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations
New York, NY
March 20, 2015

As we mark today the close of the 59th UN Commission on the Status of Women and events commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women, better known as “Beijing+20,” the United States remains concerned at the continued detention of Wu Rongrong, Wei Tingting, Wang Man, Zheng Churan and Li Tingting (also known as Li Maizi). These women—who are becoming known to the world as the “Beijing+20 Five” —were arrested in advance of International Women’s Day for courageously taking action to help end sexual harassment.

This year’s Commission on the Status of Women has focused on building upon the commitments enshrined in the historic 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. Twenty years after world leaders and activists made these landmark commitments, the ongoing detention of the Beijing+20 Five is all the more egregious given that the arrests took place as Chinese officials gathered in New York to announce that in September China would co-host with UN Women a Global Summit on Women at the United Nations General Assembly.

If China is committed to advancing the rights of women, then it should be working to address the issues raised by these women’s rights activists—not silencing them. The United States calls upon China to release immediately the Beijing+20 Five and partner with them to help ensure that men and women everywhere are able to live free from harassment and violence.

Twenty years ago, then First Lady Hillary Clinton famously told the gathering of world leaders in Beijing that “human rights are women's rights...and women's rights are human rights.” But in this case, what she said next is even more apt: “Let us not forget that among those rights are the right to speak freely. And the right to be heard.” The continued detention of the Beijing+20 Five reminds us that women’s rights cannot advance when other basic human rights are denied. Moreover, men and women alike will suffer when the worthy desire of individuals to address pressing social problems is stifled under the false banner of “creating a disturbance.”

ENDS

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